Hainan Airlines Holdings has agreed a CNY4 billion yuan (USD568 million) syndicated loan with eight state-owned banks, which it said would be used for operating expenses such as fuel, employee wages, aircraft leases, and airport charges.

In a stock market filing on December 3, the HNA Group affiliate said that each of the eight banks would provide a loan of CNY500 million (USD71 million).

Led by China Development Bank, which has been overseeing HNA’s restructuring, the syndicate also includes the China Export-Import Bank, the Bank of China, the China Agricultural Bank, the China Industrial and Commercial Bank, the China Construction Bank, the Bank of Communications, and the China Post Savings Bank.

The term of this loan to privately-owned Hainan Airlines Holdings, from some of China's biggest state-owned banks, is three years including a grace period of two years, with a 4.75% interest rate. The news agency Bloomberg speculated that the involvement of so many state-owned banks confirms that although debt-laden HNA Group is a private company its restructuring has state support.